


won't stop 'til we surrender

by icryforbensolo



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Childhood Friends, Coming of Age, Crushes, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up, High School, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Racism, Mild Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, No Pregnancy, Pining, Rey Needs A Hug, Small Towns, Tornadoes, Underage Drinking, Unrequited Crush, ben needs a hug, mentions of other relationships, rural America, summer time, this is small town USA and people kinda suck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:35:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25741420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icryforbensolo/pseuds/icryforbensolo
Summary: Rey and Ben are childhood best friends, always making plans with each other. They always said that they would get out of their small town together.ORA friends to lovers AU about growing up and moving on.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 15
Kudos: 28





	1. Summer 2007

**Author's Note:**

> Hi and welcome to my second fic!  
> I am super excited for this one, as it will jump around in time a bit.  
> Please look at the tags and let me know if I need to add more. As I update each chapter, I will also try to update the tags, too.  
> I was inspired to write this after seeing a twitter thread about writing reylo in your hometown. Growing up in rural Minnesota is actually boring af, but I tried to make the most of it in this story.  
> This is very lightly edited, so sorry if there are any glaring errors.

Rey moved in with her grandfather in the summer of 2007. Her parents died, suddenly and tragically in a freak accident and she was sent to live with her only living relative. She was eight and liked to climb trees and she was just discovering the joys of  N ancy Drew books. 

Her grandfather lived in the third house down on Elm Street South. It was a dead end street and so the children had a penchant to play in the street--anything from chalk art to basketball to kickball. There were so many kids on that street, Rey was certain that she’d never quite fit in. A young girl from England moving in with her mysterious grandfather was bound to turn some heads. For the most part, the kids were accommodating, letting her in on their games. There was one kid in particular, though, that young Rey had a particular interest. 

The neighbor kid was only two years older than her but he was quiet, always preferring to sit out on games. He had dark hair and gangly limbs and a hodgepodge of moles and freckles that looked like someone splatter painted them on his body. His ears stuck out a bit in a sort of peculiar, charming way. He would sit on the curb with a book and ignore the antics of the other children. The only kid that Rey had ever seen him interact with was Poe, who was sort of the leader of the Elm Street Kids. 

One day, Rey worked up the courage to speak to the shy boy. “Why do you never play with us?” 

The boy looked up from his book to see the young girl with bright hazel eyes and freckled face. In the summertime sun, her skin was tanned making the freckles all the more pronounced. She was wearing overall shorts and a backwards baseball cap. “I don’t like basketball or kickball. I like books and stuff.” 

Rey squinted at him. His skin was pale, save for his nose, which was reddened from the sun. “You can’t make friends if you sit and read all day.” 

“Maybe I don’t want to make friends,” Ben said with a shrug. It was half the truth at least. 

Rey wouldn’t budge. “Your friends with Poe. He’s always talking to you. C’mon, we need another player for kickball, Kaydel’s family is on vacation.” Rey reached out her hand, hoping that he would take it. 

He stared at her hand as though it were the strangest thing he had ever seen. Timidly, he took her hand. Rey grinned. She was the sort of person who grinned with all of her face, not just her mouth. He liked that, it meant that when he felt joy, she  _ really  _ felt it. There was honesty in her smile. 

She helped him on his feet and they walked over to the other kids. “Wait, what’s your name again?” she asked as they were walking.

“It’s Ben.” 

“Alright, Ben. I’m Rey. And you’re on my team, ‘kay?” 

The game went surprisingly well. Rey’s team completely destroyed Poe’s team, which was what they deserved, Rey thought. She’s pretty sure Poe cheated in the last game that they played. She had no proof, of course. Just a feeling. 

After the game, everyone went over to the Tico’s for some lemonade and popsicles as was tradition. As Ben and Rey slipped off their shoes in the entryway, Rey spoke softly to him. “You should play with us more often. I think that you and I make a pretty good team.” And just like that, she ran off to join the rest of the kids, leaving Ben completely stunned. 

For the rest of the summer, Ben and Rey were completely inseparable. Sometimes they would play with the other kids, but usually they spent their days with each other. Ben had a treehouse tucked into the oak tree behind his house. This was their rendezvous point most days. Ben kept his books there and his art. According to him, Rey was the only person on the planet allowed to see his art. Rey thought that this was a shame, because he was so talented. 

One hot July day, Ben’s mom, Leia, took the two to get the seventh Harry Potter book at midnight at Barnes and  N oble. Rey had just started reading them, but Ben was in love with them. The two packed into Leia’s SUV and were giddily speculating about what would happen in the end. The hour drive to the bookstore felt like ages, but they finally arrived, jumping out of the car and hopping in line. Leia followed them, albeit slowly, rubbing her temples in exhaustion. This was going to be a long night. 

Five hours later, the two piled back into the car, books in hand. They were fighting off exhaustion as they never really stayed up this late, but they are too excited to fall asleep. Rey ends up falling asleep first, the quiet hum of the car lulling her into a slumber. That night was the first night Rey spent the night at Ben’s home. 

The summer continued and the days only got hotter and muggier. A series of storms rolled through. Thunder rumbled, and Rey heard a knock at her door. She opened it to see Ben. “Hey, my parents aren’t home. I was wondering if I could stay here for a little bit.” He looked at his shoes sheepishly. Just then, a loud clap of thunder echoed across the room, shaking some of the items on the walls. Ben jumped and then whimpered slightly. Rey’s eyes widened slightly as she realized that Ben is scared of storms. 

She motioned him into the house and quickly shut the door behind her. 

“Rey, who’s there?” Rey’s grandfather shouted from his study. He’s almost always in his study. He’s a retired professor of history at a college an hour north of town. He moved down to Jakku to catch a break after a long life in academia. Lately, he’s been writing historical fiction novels. 

“It’s just Ben, grandfather.” Rey yelled back and then tugged Ben further into the house. Apart from the Organa-Solo residence, Rey’s home was the biggest on the block. Two stories high, it had a huge kitchen and dining room, a small sunroom, grandfather’s study, a bathroom, and a sitting room on the first floor. On the second floor were all the bedrooms, four in total. The basement, however, was Rey’s favorite part. 

Rey dragged Ben down to the basement where there was a massive sofa. A projector hung down from the ceiling. She grinned at him. “We’re going to have a movie night.” 

If books and art was Ben’s thing, movies were Rey’s thing. She loved movies. When she first moved to her grandfather’s, he tried to accommodate all of her whims. This meant that he bought her a lot of movies. Some of the movies that she got were definitely not movies appropriate for an eight year old child, but Rey would never tell her grandfather that. As long as they weren’t Rated R, he didn’t seem to mind. 

Usually, Rey needed to choose the movie that was watched, but since Ben was the guest, she allowed him to pick one movie. He looked at her collection for a while until he finally settled on one. 

“ _ The Princess Bride _ ?” Rey wrinkled her nose in disinterest. Her grandfather got her that one saying that it was one of her mother’s favorites. Rey looked at the cover and thought that it was kind of cheesy. She sighed and put it into the DVD player. It did seem like the sort of movie that Ben would be like, fantastical and full of love. 

She pressed play and the film began. The two sat on opposite ends of the couch, Rey already bundled up with about four blankets. They still heard the thunder, getting closer and closer. As the movie continued, they began to hear the patter of rain, getting heavier as the wind howled. The noises outside got louder as small hailstones started clanging against the house. After a particularly loud clap of lightning, Ben jumped out of his seat and moved closer to Rey. Even though he was older than her, Ben found comfort in Rey in these moments. The two had a connection like no other. 

Just as the man in black tricked Vizzini with the poison, the lights started to flicker until suddenly the basement went dark. Rey could barely make out the outline of Ben in the darkness, but when she did, she slowly moved closer to him. Carefully, she reached out and grabbed his hand. The two sat there, frozen on the couch, as the storm began to pick up in earnest. 

They heard footsteps stomping down the stairs and then felt the sudden glare of a flashlight. “We’re in a tornado warning, should hear the sirens any moment now.” And just as he spoke, the shrill sound of the town’s sirens blared. The three of them sat down there, with the only shadows bouncing off the flashlight to keep them company. 

“I’m going to search for my old radio, hopefully the batteries still work on it.” Grandfather said and he walked towards the storage room, bringing the flashlight with him. 

“I hate storms. I hate them so much,” Ben cried out. Rey has seen Ben in a wide array of moods from happy to angry to sad to angry again. But Rey has never seen Ben scared before. She grabbed his other hand and turned to face him. Gently, she started to rub his wrists in a soft, circular motion. “What are you doing?” he asked.

Rey shrugged. “Whenever I got scared my mother would hold my wrists and rub them like that. It always calmed me down. Why? Do you want me to stop?” 

“No. Keep going please.” 

“She also would have me talk, it didn’t matter about what. It could be as simple as what I did throughout the day, but the talking helped too.” Rey moved her hands up his arm just a little ways and then back down. 

And that was the first time Ben opened up to Rey. Really opened up to her. He told her about how people at school would tease him all the time about his ears and his hair and his art and basically anything about him. Poe was pretty much the only person in class who didn’t make fun of him. He told her about how his mom made him be extra nice to the Dameron’s and the Tico’s because people around these parts are particularly cruel to those that don’t look like them.He told her about his uncle and his farm and how he sometimes overhears his parent’s fights about how they should just send Ben away to Luke’s farm. He explained to her that he didn’t mean to be a bad kid, it’s just that sometimes his anger got the best of him. 

Rey opened up to Ben as well. She told him about her fears about leaving England and moving to nowhere, USA. Some of her stories were about her home in England, about Sunday roasts. She told him about her parents’ death and how that left her scared to get into cars sometimes. She spoke about her grandfather and how she really wished that he stopped smoking. She told him about her fears of fitting in and how she worried that kids would make fun of her behind her back.

In that moment, in that house on Elm Street, two children bared their souls to one another. A bond formed between the two, something as real and solid as the earth beneath their feet. 

Eventually, the sirens ceased and the winds died down. Grandfather Kenobi emerged from the storage room sans radio. A little while later, they heard a knocking on the door, it was Han and Leia, checking in on their son. When they were reassured that their kid was alright, they let Rey and Ben stay the night together. 

The next day, the power returned to the town. The tornado touched down right outside of town, damaging mostly cornfields and a few silos. Devastating for the farmers, but everyone was mostly grateful that nobody was hurt. As for Elm Street, life was pretty much the same. The Ticos lost one of their trees and some of the houses needed siding repair from the hail. 

The summer continued without much fanfare, the kids continued to play. Rose got a new bike for her birthday and so the new tradition now was to bike to the local pool and swim for hours on end. Rey would practically drag Ben to the pool with them, saying that he’s too pale and it makes him look ill. Ben would never get into the water, preferring to let his feet dangle in the water. 

Rey loved swimming. She would play all the water games and jump off the diving board. Any excuse she could find to be in the water, she would find it. 

Every night, the two of them would sit in Ben’s treehouse. Ben’s art was plastered everywhere. They found Grandfather Kenobi’s old polaroid camera and would take pictures of each other and taped those to the walls as well. The treehouse became theirs. 

On the last day of summer, they sat in the tree house. Rey was about to enter third grade; Ben, fifth. Ben was giving her a very in depth analysis of the third grade teacher, Ms. Kanata. Rey latched onto every word he said. She was filled with both excitement and fear for the new school year. 

“Don’t worry, little Rey, as long as we have each other, everything will be fine.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much for reading! let me know if there's any tags that I should add.
> 
> Follow me on twitter:  
> @icryforbensolo


	2. Spring 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A times skip to 2014. Ben's a senior. Rey's a sophomore. A party ensues a couple weeks before Ben's graduation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: there's mentions of some xenophobia and racism in this chapter (nothing major, but it exists in small towns so it exists in my fic). This chapter also features underage drinking.

Years passed by, and the two remained close. They watched each other grow up--one year it seemed like Ben shot up six inches in the span of seconds. Rey joined the swim team, and Ben joined the theater. He was never on stage, but he seemed to really love the behind the scene work of set design and prop making. They climbed in the tree house even when Ben was too tall to properly sit in the structure, so he would hunch over and Rey would laugh. 

They still watched movies in the basement of Rey’s home. Rey would scavenge the area for new films to watch often going to thrift stores to see what films people leave behind. Rey liked horror movies the best. Ben liked adventure stories with happy endings. They took turns picking out movies.

Ben entered high school first, which was really just going from the middle school half of the school to the high school half. The brief worry that Rey had that Ben would forget about her as he entered high school was dissipated when he showed up at her home at the end of the day with flaming hot cheetos and a grin on his face. 

Two years later, Rey entered high school. She made it onto the varsity swim team, the only freshman to do so. Ben was at every meet, even though he hated sports. Around that time, Ben got a car. Nothing fancy, but it was wheels which meant that they could leave town whenever they so choose. Some days they just drove around the countryside, music blasting, and would just talk the day away. Some days they drove to the movie theater and saw the latest box office smash. On Rey’s fifteenth birthday, Ben drove her to a theater in Minneapolis that was showing that indie film she always wanted to see. 

She watched him go to junior prom, begrudgingly dragged behind Poe. Rey was pretty confident that if it wasn’t for Poe, Ben probably wouldn’t have done any of the traditional high school activities. She laughed as he grumbled and groaned in his rental tuxedo and Leia cooed and cheered. Ben always complained about his mom, but Rey found their relationship to be charming. Paige, Ben’s date, seemed mostly amused and slightly confused at the entire situation. Rey wasn’t even sure how Paige got wrangled into being Ben’s date, but she was sure Poe had something to do with it once again. 

Ben helped teach her how to drive, with the assistance from his father of course. Han insisted that every self-respecting person has to learn how to drive a stick. “Automatic is for pussies,” he told Rey as they faced down the dirt road that was their practice track. 

Senior year fast approached for Ben and so too did the stress of the college application process. Rey watched in fascination as he filled out the common app and sent it off to various schools. She tried not to think about Ben leaving next fall and how she would be alone for the first time since she was eight. Rose tried to cheer her up, reminding her that they’d always have each other and the new kid, Finn. And that was true, the three of them were a tight knit group, but they weren’t Ben. 

Rey would never admit it to anyone. In fact, it was something that she wouldn’t even think about unless it was the dead of night and her mind wouldn’t shut off. Rey would never admit it to anyone, but sometimes she would stay awake imagining how if things were a little different then maybe her and Ben could kiss and fall in love and be together forever. That was the real fear she had with Ben leaving. He’ll be off doing something new and exciting and forget the girl on Elm Street. He’ll fall in love with some girl and Rey would continue to be nothing. Just some kid. 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Two weeks before Ben’s high school graduation, Poe threw a huge party. It was Poe’s eighteenth birthday and he was about to graduate and wanted to celebrate all of those things combined. The party was at Snap Wexley’s house, located just outside of town. It was the go-to spot for parties because it was off a dirt road and surrounded by fields, isolated from the town. 

When Rey arrived with Finn and Rose in tow, the party was already in full swing. Rey could hear the music at full blast, some sort of country song that she really tried to tune out. This was definitely Snap’s playlist because Poe would never. They walked through the threshold, and immediately spotted Poe. He wasn’t difficult to find with his vintage bomber jacket, perfectly coiffed hair, and cheeky grin. He grew up to be quite the looker. “ROSE! REY! FINN!” He shouted, walking down the stairs to greet them. “You made it!” He pulled them into a hug, lingering slightly with Finn, something that Rey definitely noticed. She could already smell the booze on him. This should make for an interesting evening. 

“There’s drinks and food in the kitchen. Snap really pulled through. I’m pretty sure he convinced some college kid to get all this booze, but I’m not too worried. As long as everyone doesn’t drive, then it should be fine. Any of you drive?” Poe asked as he escorted them into the kitchen. He started rummaging into a cooler and pulled out some beer, cheap Busch Light shit. 

Rose nodded. She was the first one to get her driver’s license, which meant she always got the short end of the stick on these sorts of things. Poe nodded back, almost solemnly. “Ok, well, I got some pop for you and shit, so you can still have libations and fun!” 

Rose grinned. “I’m alright, thanks though. I think I saw Kaydel, I’m going to go say hi.” And just like that Rose ran off into the fray, leaving Rey with Finn and Poe.

He handed the beers to Finn and Rey the beer. Finn opened his and started drinking quickly, looking around almost nervously. Rey took in her friend’s demeanor. He dressed up for the occasion, more than he usually did. She noticed that his hair, usually in twists, was in tightly done braids. He was wearing his good pair of jeans. She knows those were his good pair of jeans because she was there when he bought them and told her very seriously that he liked them because they made his butt look good (they really did). He was wearing a light blue button up t-shirt. All together he looked quite snazzy. Rey wondered if there was someone that he was trying to impress. 

“Ben’s outside, Rey, if you’re looking for him. Out in the back on the swingset.” Poe said. The annoying thing about Poe was that he liked to meddle into other people’s affairs. He thought that he knew what was best for people even if people literally never asked. Still, Rey appreciated it. She always liked spending time with Ben at these events. He can get moody and withdrawn and she was always the positive beam of light in his life. At least that’s what she always thought. 

She made it to the backyard after pushing through the various different kids. Some of them said hi to her, but most were focused on their own shit. Over half the school must’ve been there, Rey thought. 

She spotted him on a swing set just as Poe said she would. Of course he managed to find a way to be completely isolated from everyone. “You know, the point of parties is that you actually have to talk to people and be social,” she said as she moved towards the empty swing next to him. Empty beer cans surrounded him. His large frame looked strange hunched over the kid’s swing-set. 

“I hate all the people here.” Rey gave him a look. “Except you, of course. And Poe. Sometimes.” He stared out toward the field. They just finished planting a couple weeks ago and tiny corn plants were just beginning to pop up. Rey looked at him--his brow furrowed, face in the perpetual frown it has been in for the last few months. It’s only gotten worse since he was rejected from the fancy art school in New York. Rey was secretly happy that he was just going to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and staying near her. She would never admit that to him, though. In just a few short months, he’ll be moving to Minneapolis and away from her, and that was bad enough. 

Rey didn’t know how to respond to him. When he was in a sullen mood, sometimes it was just easier to let him mope and listen to him. She never knew what to say. “I look at this town--this fucking town--and sometimes I want to burn the entire thing down, you know?” Rey did know. Well, kind of. Sometimes Rose and Finn would say the same thing. Rey never really thought about life beyond this town and her grandfather. She hadn’t even really thought about college, assuming that she would go to the U of M. She never considered anything else. 

Ben finished his open beer and threw it on the ground with the others. Rey made a mental note to herself to pick up the cans before they leave. He twisted the swing around, away from the cornfield and toward the house. She followed suit. They looked up to see Poe on the deck, a huge grin plastered on his face as he was shouting something that Rey couldn’t quite make out. “Look at him,” Ben muttered. “I don’t know how he can be so happy, after all the bullshit that this town has put him through.” Rey hummed in agreement. They both had witnessed some of the intense vitriol people have towards Poe and his family. Random people would approach them and tell the Damerons to go back to their country. Poe was born in Miami. 

They continued to watch the scene play out from the swingset. They watched as Poe walked away from the crowd and towards Finn, who was sitting underneath a tree. Poe sat down, and they leaned closer. Rey quickly averted her eyes before she witnessed what she assumed was an intimate, secret moment between the two. Suddenly, both Finn and Poe’s behavior made a lot more sense. “Did you know anything about that?” she asked Ben. 

Ben wasn’t looking at Finn and Poe. He was looking at her. “What?” He responded, confused. 

“Finn and Poe? They’re together. Like  _ together  _ together, if you catch my drift.” 

Ben opened his mouth and then he closed it. He sat there, processing what she told him. “I--,” he was silent again. “Honestly kind of makes sense, though. I can see it.”

Rey nodded. She’s thoughtful again. “It’s nice to see friends fall in love.” 

He looked at her, an unreadable expression across his face. “Yeah,” he said softly. “It is nice.” He looked at her hands and the unopened beer. “Are you going to drink that?” 

She laughed. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough? There’s like six empty cans underneath your feet. I mean you have great tolerance, but I feel like I should be cutting you off or something.” 

Ben blinked. And then he nodded. “Very well, as my lady wishes.” 

Rey grinned, one of those large toothy grins that cover her entire face. Ben’s favorite kind of smile. “My lady, huh? I kinda like the sound of that.” She looked at the beer and opened it. She took a sip and then grimaced. Ben laughed, full and bright. Rey felt like she hadn’t heard him laugh like that in ages. “This shit is horrible! You drank six of these?” 

“If you chug them fast enough then you don’t really have to think about the taste.” 

Rey scrunched up her nose at the suggestion, but then shrugged and started chugging. When she was finished she made a face like someone peed in her cheerios. “I am never doing that again. Ugh, that was horrific.” She crushed up the can and placed it in the pile near Ben’s feet. 

“Little Rey--having beer for the first time. It’s adorable,” Ben remarked. 

“Hey!” Rey cried. “I am not that little. Just because you are a giant, does not mean that everyone else is tiny.” 

Ben hummed. “Ooh, I think that it does actually. My little Rey with her bright eyes towards the horizon. Always putting on a happy face.” 

“One of us has to be the happy one. And it isn’t going to be you,” she muttered, slightly offended at how he made it seem like her positivity was a bad thing. 

Ben was quiet. He fidgeted with his hands, a nervous habit that he had ever since they were children. His dark hair covering his face as he looked down. “You’re right,” he murmured. “You’ve always been right. You and me, we’ll always be a team. Promise me, Rey, that we’ll get out of this town together. That we’ll carve our own little mark into the world, you and me, together.Best friends until the very end.” 

Rey looked at Ben. His deep brown eyes looked so earnest in that moment as he gazed at her. “I promise, Ben. You and me, until the very end,” she replied softly. Slowly, bravely, Rey reached towards Ben’s hand in a moment so reminiscent to the time when they were children when they first interacted. 

Before their hands could meet, Rose ran towards them. “You guys gotta come inside! It’s cake time!” she said, slightly out of breath. 

Ben stood up and started walking towards the house with Rose. Rey stayed where she was. “You guys go ahead, I’m going to pick things up. I’ll be right up.” 

Rose smiled, “Okay! Hurry! Otherwise you’re gonna get a sad piece of cake.” They both know that wasn’t true. Ben always managed to find her the largest piece of cake. 

Rey watched Ben and Rose walk towards the house and sighed. “You and me, together, huh?” she muttered to herself, kicking one of the cans. 

Maybe he thought that, but he didn’t think it the way that she did, she was sure of it. Because the thing was, Rey was so in love with her best friend that it hurt. And there was nothing that she could about it, because she knew that he didn’t feel the same way. She knew in the way that he looked at her. Or the way that he constantly reminded her that they were friends. Just friends. It fucking hurt. So she knew that when he said together, he meant together as friends. 

Rey grabbed the cans and walked towards the house with a slightly less positive attitude than Ben would ever see. 

Best friends until the end. She supposed that would have to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!  
> Be sure to let me know if there's any tags I should add. 
> 
> Follow me on twitter:  
> @icryforbensolo


	3. Spring 2016

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is about to graduate high school. It's truly a celebration for all involved. 
> 
> Or is it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy :) 
> 
> This chapter brought up some old memories lol

Rey stomps down on the gas of her used Mazda Miata. She glances at her rearview mirror, grinning when she sees her competitor so far behin d her. 

Dam n straight, she thinks to herself. Teedo and his little gang of phonies from the town over didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when they challenged her to a race. If there was one thing that Rey loved more than anything else in the world, it’s going fast. 

Up ahead where the road abruptly ends at the T shape, sits Finn and Rose and the rest of the Teedo’s group. She’s going to win. The wind in her hair as she presses slightly harder on the gas. It was fucking genius to get a convertible with her savings. Sure it’s not the best in the winter, but it’s not like she’s going to bring it to college anyway. 

Her cherry red car is staying safe and sound at home. Besides, Ben told her that he barely even used his car once he got on campus. 

Rey slams on the brakes, hearing the tires screech as she reaches the finish line. Finn and Rose surround her car, cheering and whooping with delight. Rey grins, dimples on full display, as she glances at the dejected faces of Teedo’s gang as he limps sadly to the end of the road. 

“Oh my god, Rey, that was amazing,” Rose exclaims as Rey hops out of her vehicle. Rose loops her arms around Rey’s waist squeezing her best friend closely. Finn joins the two in a hug, grin somehow wider than Rey’s. 

The trio’s fun didn’t even stop when Teedo got out of his car and huffed and puffed his way into towards them. He points his finger at Rey, anger clear on his face. “I don’t know how you did it, but you cheated.”

Rey laughs. She can’t help it, but the idea is funny to think about. “I won fair and square. You lost. And now we,” she pauses to give a little arm flourish to Finn and Rose, “are going to celebrate. Good luck with life, Teedo.” 

Finn and Rose giggle too as they clamor into Rey’s Miata. It really wasn’t meant for three people but Rose always sat in Finn’s lap. In small towns, things like seats don’t matter that much. It’s the destination more than how you get there that matters. 

Teedo grumbles and walks back to his gang. His so-called friends start climbing into their pickup trucks, heading away from all of the drama that Teedo always seems to bring. Rey’s ears pick up on Teedo mentioning something about losing to a girl. Rey smirks at this. People always seem to underestimate her. 

Rey starts her engine once more and drives away from the makeshift racetrack that’s really a dirt road off of the main drag out of town. She grins as she zooms past Snap’s house, wondering if there’s going to be another rager now that all the college kids are back home for the summer. 

Well, almost all the college kids. 

Rey tries not to think about how she hasn’t heard from Ben since new Year’s Eve. She texts him every once in a while but to no avail. She gets it. He’s busy. But a smoke signal would be nice so that she knows that he’s alive. Even his mother says that he’s difficult to get ahold of. 

She drives to the next town over. It’s slightly bigger and actually has stuff for high schoolers to do, which is mostly sit in the Dairy Queen parking lot and eat Blizzards. 

As always, when she gets to Dairy Queen, the parking lot is full and she has to park in the street. Which is fine, because Rey, Finn, and Rose never stay at the parking lot to hang out with the other kids. It’s not that the others are bad or anything, but the trio likes to do things their way. It’s a side effect of never quite belonging in a small town. 

Some of the kids call out to Rey as the three walks into the Dairy Queen. They knew about her race with Teedo and are curious about how it went. Rey makes pleasant small talk but generally keeps to herself. It’s not like after this summer she’s going to see these people much anyway. She’s moving away to the city to start school and she’s not looking back. 

The three order their ice cream: Rose--strawberry cheesecake, Rey--chocolate fudge, and Finn--cookie dough. When they get their ice cream after the worker does the standard blizzard flip. They make their way back to the car. Rey takes them to their place. 

Well, it’s really Rey’s place. But she only shares it with people she cares about. At the Lake Takodona, if you take a left turn instead of a right towards the beachfront, you can take a dirt road down a path to an abandoned lot for a cabin. She never really knew what happened to whoever owned the property, but there were never any trespassing signs so she figured it’s fine. She parks her car at the clearing and takes the small trek through the trees to the secret beachfront that she discovered. For all Rey knows, only she, Finn, and Rose are aware of this place. 

And Ben.

She tries not to think about that. 

Finn lays out the blanket that Rey always has in her car. The three sit in a circle and eat ice cream and talk and laugh. They talk about everything and anything under the sun from petty high school gossip to the current state of politics. The conversation eventually shifts to graduation. 

“I can’t believe that it’s tomorrow,” Finn says, skipping a rock across the water. “I feel like I just started high school.” 

Rey sighs as she thinks about it. She and Finn are going to the same school, but Rose is going out of state on a special engineering scholarship. The trio is going to be splitting up. 

Rose sighs, but not a sad sigh. “Do you remember when Rey moved into the neighborhood? She was just like ‘I am here. You will like me.’ Even got Ben to stop moping and be with us.” They laugh at the thought. 

“How is Ben?” Finn asks after the laughter died down. 

Rey shrugs, pretending to be interested at the empty bottom of her paper cup. “I dunno. He’s sort of ghosting me right now.” 

Finn nods, taking in Rey’s words. “That sucks, Rey, I’m sorry.” 

Rey shrugs once more. “Yeah, it is what it is I guess. He’ll be home soon and I’ll see him then.” She pauses, trying to organize her thoughts. “What about Poe? Have you heard from him?” 

The fling between Poe and Finn was one of the most complicated parts of the kids of Elm Street’s story. The two have been one and off again since Finn was a Freshman. Even then, there was so much secrecy and drama wrapped around the relationship. Rey felt for Finn, he deserves happiness just as much as anyone. 

“Yeah. He loves college, says he can be freer. Makes me feel more hyped to actually get out of this shithole and see some culture for once,” Finn responds wistfully. 

From there, the conversation moved on to eager conversations about college and the city. Rey and Rose have already started brainstorming their dorm ideas, speculating on the type of people they might get paired up with as roommates. The three chatted for hours until the sky went dark and Finn’s phone starts buzzing with phone calls from his mother. They climb back into Rey’s car and she drops them off at their respective houses.

As Rey climbs the stairs to her bedroom, an exciting jolt of energy rushes down her spine. Tomorrow at this time, Rey thinks, I will officially be a high school graduate. 

☀☀

When Rey wakes the next day, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping. It’s almost stereotypical how great of a day it is. She gets ready for school, putting on her class shirt and the nicest pair of jeans she owns. It’s a tradition at the school for the senior class to wear their senior Homecoming shirts. 

Rey runs down the stairs and sees her grandfather already in the kitchen. He’s got a jovial smile on as he fries up some bacon to serve. He’s wearing a sweater vest for goodness sake, like the epitome of precious grandpa. 

Rey plops down at the kitchen table and grins as Grandfather Kenobi serves up bacon, eggs, and pancakes. “A big breakfast for you on this momentous occasion,” he says as a cheeky grin appears on his face. Rey digs right into her breakfast food, gobbling up everything that she can eat. Grandfather laughs as he watches her feast. 

Once Rey is done eating she gets up and drops her plate into the sink, rinsing off the excess maple syrup in the process.

“After graduation, I invited a few people over for a small gathering. I hope you don’t mind, it’s mostly just the neighbors,” he says as he enjoys his meal at a much slower pace than Rey. 

If the neighbors are coming then that means Finn and Rose and probably Kaydel and Paige and Poe, too. And Ben. Maybe. Possibly. Rey tries to tuck that thought away in the deepest corner of her mind. 

“That’ll be fine. After school, I’m heading over to Rose’s to get ready, so I probably won’t see you until after the ceremony,” Rey tells him. She watches as her grandpa smiles and nods. She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek as she picks up her backpack and heads to her car.

She picks up Rose. Finn’s mother insisted on driving her baby to his last day of high school. Finn complained about it last night, but Rey thinks that he deep down loves how much his mother dotes on him. 

When Rose gets into the car she’s already talking a mile a minute about some junior girl who posted on her Instagram a picture with one of Kaydel’s exes and how it’s awkward because it clearly was  _ about  _ Kaydel even though Kaydel was not even mentioned in the post at all. At some point in the narration, Rey is hopelessly lost, Rey didn’t even know that Kaydel broke up with her boyfriend. 

They arrive at the school and Rey parks in her usual spot. Next year, someone else will park their car in this spot. Finn greets them at the door with a big smile and a hug. They walk up the stairs and into the foyer where a bunch of other seniors is. Everyone is so nice to Rey, even people who were dicks to her when she first came to school here. It’s somewhat refreshing but mostly strange--like they just now realized that being ana asshole to people is not okay. Better late than never Rey supposes. 

The entire day goes by in a blur with classes not even being proper classes. They literally just return their textbooks and chat with teachers about stuff. In calculus, they even watch a movie. They never watch movies in calculus. 

When the final bell rings for the day, all the seniors rush out to the field beyond the football field. Days before the senior class president sent out texts to everyone to bring shaving cream to school. The class of eighty all got to the field and starting spraying each other with shaving cream. It got all over Rey’s hair and clothes. She suddenly regrets wearing her nice jeans to school. After the fight, they all lean together for a final class photo. In just a few short hours, they’ll all be high school graduates. Rey posts a selfie of her and Finn and Rose on her Instagram. 

Afterward, Rey and Rose go over to Rose’s house. They rinse out the shaving cream from their body as they get ready for graduation. Rey does Rose’s hair, braiding into a nice crown-like design. Rose helps Rey with her makeup. The two pull on their dresses to go underneath their gowns. Rey’s is white with a lace trim and bell sleeves. Rose’s is a seafoam green with an a-line skirt. By the time they are finished, the two girls look like a bona fide snack. 

They don’t put their cap and gown on until they get back to the auditorium for the actual ceremony. They arrive with five minutes to spare until the line-up. Rey and Finn get to sit next to each other for the entire ceremony. Rose gets to sit at the top platform next to the principal and school board seeing as she’s the valedictorian. 

“Are you ready?” Finn asks, adjusting the tassel on Rey’s cap. 

Rey grins dimples on full display. “Always.” 

Suddenly the fanfare of Pomp and Circumstance is playing and Rey is walking down the aisle with her fellow graduates. The entire ceremony is a blur. She remembers cheering loudly when Rose stands to give her speech. She remembers tearing up as the choir sings their rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” She remembers hearing her grandfather’s cheers as she shakes hands with the Superindent as he hands her diploma. She moves her tassel from one side to the other. The rite of passage is complete. She remembers throwing her cap into the air after Principal Higgins says, “Ladies and gentlemen, the class of 2016.” 

She turns to Finn, grinning in the process. He throws her into a big bear hug, lifting her slightly off the ground. “WE FUCKING DID IT!” he yells over the cheers from their classmates. Rey hugged pretty much as many people as she could, too happy to even care who they were. She even invited a few people not in her friend group to her place for her grandpa’s celebration. 

When she gets to her grandfather she sees tears in his eyes which makes Rey cry as the two hold each tight. Standing next to Grandfather is Leia Organa of all people, looking at Rey with such pride. Leia pulls Rey into a hug stating how fucking proud she is of her. That also makes Rey tear up because she always liked Leia. Who would’ve thought that graduating high school would make Rey so weepy? Rey pulls away from the hug first and asks, “Where’s Han?” 

Rey watches as Leia’s face turns guarded, as though she’s trying to keep some sort of secret. “He’s with Ben,” she replies with a look that says that she will not elaborate. Butterflies flutter in Rey’s stomach. She’s going to see Ben tonight. Possibly. Maybe. The way that Leia says his name puts a sour taste in Rey’s mouth. Something is up. 

☀☀

Rey arrives home long after the festivities have kicked into gear. She and Rose were too busy posing for photos for different people’s Instagram feeds. She had to park down the road because there were so many cars parked on the street already. Grandfather’s small gathering turned out to be quite large. Rey can’t help but wonder if that was his plan the entire time but he wanted it to seem more understated than it was. Rey’s suspicions are confirmed when she encounters three of his work colleagues as she walks through her threshold. They offer her their congratulations before continuing on their way. 

Rey spots a few kids from class, including Kaydel, who is wrapped around her ex from the gossip earlier that day which only makes Rey more confused. She’s sure Rose will clarify for her eventually. Finn is sitting with Poe in the backyard and waves at Rey. Rey takes that as permission to walk over to them. 

“Oh my god, Rey, have you seen him?” Poe asks as soon as Rey walks over to them. 

Rey’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. “Who?” 

Poe looks at her as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “Ben. Man of your dreams Ben Solo. He’s here.” Rey tries to argue that Ben is not the man of her dreams, but 1) that is not true and 2) Poe would never hear it. “Look.” He points and Rey turns around.

And there he is. Ben Solo. Tall. Broad. His hair has gotten longer, more shaggy. His face is in a frown as though this is literally the last place that he wants to be. And next to him, holding his hand is a girl. A tall, sleek beautiful girl. Rey’s breathing quickens as she watches the girl with the doll-like skin wrap her arms around Ben, whispering something in his ear. 

A girl. With Ben. Her Ben. “Who is she?” Rey whispers, not trusting the strength of her voice. She can’t look away. She watches as Ben kisses the other girl’s cheek.

“According to Han, the girl is called Bazine. She’s a model I guess. He came home last night with her, apparently,” Poe supplies. Rey can feel Poe’s gaze on her, assessing her reaction. Finn’s the same way, and she wishes that she has less perceptive friends. 

“Rey, I’m so sorry,” Finn murmurs, sounding apologetic. 

And no. This won’t do. Rey will not have people pity her because of her crush on Ben Solo. She’s better than that. “Don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. He’s perfectly welcome to bring home whoever he wants. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to go change.” 

Rey walks away from Finn and Poe. She can still feel their sympathetic gaze on her. She walks up to her bedroom, suddenly wanting to just lay down and not talk to anyone for a week. 

She changes out of her dress and into something more comfortable. Yoga pants and a t-shirt will do, she thinks to herself. She walks across the hall to the bathroom to quickly freshen up. She can’t help but hear voices carry from a few rooms over--grandfather’s room. 

“Ben, you are making a mistake. Dropping out of school and moving to California? If you just listened to me and your mother--”

“That’s fucking rich, you guys agreeing on something? About me? I finally make choices for MYSELF without any fucking influence from anyone in this god damn town, and it’s a fucking mistake.” a voice--Ben’s voice shouts to what could only be his father’s. 

Suddenly Leia’s little comment earlier made a lot more sense. 

“Can we maybe talk about this another time? This isn’t the best time--”   
“ _ You’re  _ the one that took me aside at this stupid fucking party that I didn’t even want to go to, DAD,” Ben’s voice drips with sarcasm at that last word. As though he doesn’t consider Han to be his father. 

Han sounds at his wit’s end, “This is for REY! Remember her?”

“DON’T FUCKING SAY HER NAME,” Ben screams. Rey knows at this point she should leave. She walks back towards the bathroom when she hears a door slam. She freezes--like a deer caught in the headlights. 

“Hey, kid.” Rey visibly relaxes. It’s just Han. “Uh, congratulations. Leia and I are so proud.” Rey smiles unsure what to say. They both know that she heard everything they said. Han just gives that Han smirk and walks down the stairs. 

“Heard all that?” a deep voice says causing Rey to jump. She turns around and there’s Ben. It’s the first time that they’ve spoken in six months. 

“Ben--” she starts, not quite sure what to say.

“Whatever. It doesn’t even fucking matter.” 

They stand there, several feet apart, neither one of them moving, neither of them speaking. 

Finally, Rey speaks up. “So you’re moving to California? That’s new.” 

She sees Ben stiffen. “What. About. It.” he asks through gritted teeth, voice defensive. 

Rey holds her hands up in peace, “nothing. I just haven’t heard from you in a while, and so it surprises me. That’s all.” 

Ben rolls his eyes. “I don’t need to run my life choices through a child, Rey. I’m an adult, I’m more than capable of making my own decisions.”

Well, now Rey is kind of mad. “You know that’s not what I meant, Ben. We used to share stuff and then you suddenly started leaving me on read. And I know that you blocked me on Snapchat. What gives?” 

Ben takes a step towards her standing tall so that he looms over her. Gone was the sweet kid. Instead stands a predator, here to crush her soul. “It’s time to let the past die, Rey. There’s no use holding onto childish fever dreams of being best friends ‘til the end, holding hands, and whatever. Welcome to the real world.” 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Rey spits. 

“I GREW UP, REY. That’s what fucking happens when you leave your small town. You grow up and realize that everyone is shit and you gotta do something to fix it,” Ben yells, the vein on his neck popping out as he screams. 

Rey takes a step back, tears forming in her eyes. She doesn’t know what to do or say, she just stands there frozen as she witnesses a different person embodies the Ben Solo that she once knew. 

“You should go, Ben. Don’t want to keep you at my kid party when you can go screw your girlfriend.” 

Ben storms past her, seemingly glad to be done with this particular conversation. “One more thing, Rey.” Rey looks up from her thousand-yard stare at the carpet. She looks at his golden-brown eyes. “I knew about the crush. It was so fucking obvious. Maybe next time, try not to act so pathetic.” And then Ben Solo walks away.

Rey’s knees buckle as she stumbles to the ground. She feels her heart shatter into a million little pieces. There’s nothing to compare the pain to. It hurts worse than when she broke her ankle falling out of the oak tree in the backyard. Ben took her entire existence and stomped on it and walked away like it never really mattered in the first place. 

She’s laying in the hall when Finn, Rose, and Poe finally find her. They notice the mascara streaks down her cheeks. They don’t say anything as Finn lifts her and carries her to the bathroom. Rose helps clean up her skin with a washcloth as they try to fix Rey up from the shattered mess Ben left her in. 

They tuck Rey into bed, Rose stroking Rey’s hair. Soon Rose leaves to go join her family. Finn leaves shortly after. Surprisingly, Poe remains. “Next time I see him, I’ll fuck him up. He hurt Han and Leia. And he hurt you.” And then Poe walks away. 

Rey closes her eyes. When sleep takes her all she can dream about is two kids growing up and falling apart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I cry while writing this?   
> Yes, yes I did.
> 
> Please let me know what you thought! I love getting comments lol


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